11 East Forsyth

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11 East Forsyth
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Location Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Coordinates 30°19′37″N81°39′27″W / 30.32694°N 81.65750°W / 30.32694; -81.65750
Arealess than one acre
Built1926
Architect Pringle & Smith
Architectural style Chicago school
MPS Downtown Jacksonville MPS
NRHP reference No. 03001310 [1]
Added to NRHPDecember 23, 2003

11 East Forsyth, formerly known as the Lynch Building and the American Heritage Life Building, is a historic structure in Jacksonville, Florida. Originally developed by Stephen Andrew Lynch, as its current name suggests, it is located at 11 East Forsyth Street in Downtown Jacksonville. [2] On December 23, 2003, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Contents

Vestcor invested more than $24 million to restore the building's exterior and transform the former offices into loft apartments, which tenants began to occupy during 2003. [2]

Construction

Lynch Building in 1938. LynchBldg1938.jpg
Lynch Building in 1938.

The 17-story, 153,000 sq ft (14,200 m2) building originally contained commercial offices and was opened by entrepreneur and film pioneer Stephen Andrew Lynch. [3] It was designed by architects Pringle & Smith in 1926 in the Chicago School style. It was constructed with limestone, marble and a facade of brick; the top of the structure contained a capital of terra-cotta. [4] When it opened in 1926, it was Jacksonville's second tallest building, one floor less than the Barnett National Bank Building. [5] [6]

The building was renovated in 1962 and renamed the American Heritage Life Building when it was utilized as home office of the American Heritage Life Insurance Company . When the company built a new headquarters and left the downtown during the late 1980s, the structure was unoccupied for many years. [4]

Current use

Jacksonville developer Vestcor began a historic preservation of the building in 2002 after obtaining a $17.8 million, 1.5% interest, 20-year loan from the city of Jacksonville. [5] [6] The company restored many architectural features including polychromatic terra-cotta panels, decorative ceilings and steel panels. [7] Elevators, HVAC, electrical, plumbing and other infrastructure was modernized and a six-story parking garage was constructed adjacent to the building. The second floor was converted into a large community club room, a fitness center and a media room. Modern amenities were added while respecting the historic integrity of the structure. The building was renamed to "11 East Forsyth" and 127 apartments were opened in 2003 [6] after $24 million and a year of construction. [2] A Starbucks coffee bistro opened, but subsequently closed, leaving no tenants in the 4,500 sq ft (420 m2) of first-floor commercial space. [5]

Lynch Building & Main Street Bridge Lynch Building - Jacksonville.jpg
Lynch Building & Main Street Bridge

In late December 2009, Vestcor requested a modification to their loan terms, citing three years of operating losses at 11 East and their other renovated building, The Carling. The company asked for three years of interest-only payments plus low interest loans to potential tenants for the empty commercial space at 11 East. [5] Three months later, the city approved the plan for principal deferral but took no action on tenant loans. [8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System – (#03001310)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Witkowski, Rachel: "Costly renovation of historic buildings pays off for city" Jacksonville Business Journal, April 7, 2006
  3. ↑ Wood, Wayne (1992). Jacksonville's Architectural Heritage. University Press of Florida. ISBN   0-8130-0953-7. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Lynch Building" National Trust for Historic Preservation
  5. 1 2 3 4 Hunt, David: "Downtown housing developer asks Jacksonville for help" Florida Times-Union, December 30, 2009
  6. 1 2 3 Marbut, Max: "The story behind one of Downtown’s historic buildings: The Carling" Jacksonville Daily Record, December 10, 2009.
  7. ↑ "11 East Forsyth Apartments" Archived 2009-05-06 at the Wayback Machine Vestcor Companies
  8. ↑ Bauerlein, David (March 11, 2010) "Jacksonville finds it too costly to pay business’s employee parking as incentive". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved September 27, 2011
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